Safety-bolt and nut-lock.



c. A. HYD'E.

SAFETY BOLT ANDNUT LOCK. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25. 1914.

1,175,148. Patented Mar. 14,1915.

' i 17 1a /.9 I 1 I CVwr/rvfliyak "m2 coLUlullA WRAP c0. WASHINGTON, D.c.

fl fuf m mr CHARLES A. HYDE, OF CLEAR SPRING, MARYLAND.

SAFETY-BOLT AND NUT-LOCK.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

Application filed November 25, 1914. Serial No. 873,930.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. HYDE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Clear Spring, in the county of Washington andState ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSafety-Bolts and Nut-Locks, of which the following is, a specification.

My invention relates to safety bolts and nut locks, and its primaryobject is to provide a novel construction of bolt, nut and lockingdevice whereby a simple, strong, durable and efficient structure isproduced for locking the nut against any liability of casualdisconnection or retrograde rotation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a nut locking meansincluding a spring clip adapted to be interlocked with the bolt and nutin a convenient manner, and which, when applied, can only be removedunder 7 certain conditions, and thus avoid liability of miscreantstampering with the bolt and nut.

A further object of the invention is to provide, for use in conjunctionwith the improved bolt, nut and locking device, a spiral spring washerhaving substantially the same tensile strength as the bolt and adaptedto permit free expansion and contraction of the parts coupled by thebolt under heat and cold without stretching the bolt, whereby a secureconnection is maintained at all times to secure absolute safety, adesideratum in the use of the device in railroad construction forcoupling adjoining .rails and other simia lar uses.

The invention consists in the featuresof construction, combination andarrangement ofparts hereinafter described and claimed, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figurel is a view, mainly in longitudinal section, showing theapplication of my invention to a bolt and nut; Fig. 2 is an outer faceView of the nut; Fig. 3 is a detail View of the outer end of the bolt;Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the spring locking clip; and Fig. 5 isan end View of the spiral spring or washer.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates .a

bolt which may be in general of ordinary construction, including a shank2 having at one end a head 3 and an angular portion 4,

and having at its opposite end screw threads 5, except that the bolt ispreferably made of somewhat greater diameter than ordinary bolts and itshead is also preferably made somewhat larger and the length of itsthreaded surface increased, all with the obj ect of strengthening thebolt and increasing the extent of adjustment ofthe nut to render thebolt capable of sustaining all of the imposed strains when used as afastening member in railway track construction and any other structureswhere'safety of connection is a factor of primary importance.

As shown, the threaded end of the bolt shank is formed with adiametrically extending groove 6, and the nut 7, provided to engage thethreaded end of the bolt, is formed in .its outer face 8 with two setsof a 'ined transverse grooves 9 and 10 arrangcdat right angles to eachother and intersecting each other at the center of the b lt, whichgrooves respectively communicate with longitudinal" grooves 11 and 12formed in the sides of the nut and extending between its inner and outerfaces. The inner walls of these grooves 11 and 12 are each formed with alongitudinal series of locking teeth or notches 13, and the outer endsof said indicated at 14.

' Forthe purpose of securing the nut to the bolt, I provide a fasteningcomprising a substantially U-shaped spring clip 15, consisting of abodyor cross piece 16 and spring arms 17 bent at right angles to "saidbody and in parallel relation to each other. Each .of. these arms isstruck up to provide an inwardly extending /-shaped locking projection18 and a releasing extremity 19 projecting outwardly at an oblique anglethereto. The body or cross piece 16 is of a length coinciding with the.diameter ofthe nut and is adapted to be received in either of the pairsof grooves 9 and 10 and to extend diametrically across the nut, whileits arms 17 are adapted to project into the grooves .11 or'.-1-2, sothat the body or cross piece 16 will enter the groove 6 in the end ofthe bolt and thus fasten the nut to the bolt against any possibility ofturning movement.

It will be understood, of course, that the fastening device or clip isadapted to be applied by a sliding movement, and it will be noted thatthe cross piece and arms thereof are of less width and thickness thanthe width and depth of the grooves, from which it will be apparent thatwhen the clip is applied it will lie entirely within the grooves andwholly within the periphery of the nut, so that it cannot be struck byextraneous ob jects and loosened or accidentally sprung out of lockingengagement with the nut.

The projections 18 of the spring locking arms are adapted to be held bythe spring action of said arms in engagement with certain of the notches13 with such a degree of spring force that the arms cannot be casuallydisplaced or released from locking engagement by a miscreant orunauthorized person or by any other than a trackman or workman having alever or tool of a proper form and size to enter in the spaces betweenthe extremities 19 of the fastening and the sides of the nut andoperated to force the arms of the fastener out of locking engagementwith thenut. It will be evident, however, that the fastener may beeasily slid into locking position and to facilitate this and render iteasier the fastener is provided at the points of junction of its bodyportion and arms with beveled surfaces 20 conforming to the beveledportions 14: and which may be engaged easily by the thumb. and one ofthe fingers of the hand so that the fastener may be conveniently heldand slipped into locking position.

In applying the fastener the projections 18 of the spring locking armsthereof are brought into engagement with the beveled surfaces 1% of thewalls of the grooves 11 or 12, with which the fastener is to be engaged,and the fastener forced inward under pressure, the projections 18 insuch action sliding over the said beveled sur-' faces 14, by which thearms of the fastener will be spread so that they will slide easily intothe grooves, thus allowing even a very strong spring fastener-to beapplied with readiness and facility, while at the same time thefastenerwhen fully applied. will be shielded'by the nut itself and held fromeither workingloose or from being acci dentally disconnected.

For the purpose of increasing the efiiciency of the bolt and nut look, Iprovide a coiled take-up spring or washer 21,' which preferably is ofspiral form, and consists of three spiral convolutions, suflicient innumber to secure thedesired expansion and contraction of the washer andto permit of the requisite range of expansion and contraction" of thebolt. This spring has substantially the same tensile strength as thebolt, or its resistance to compression is equal to that of the forcewhich is necessary in order to stretch or elongate the bolt. This washeris placed upon the shank of the bolt and comes between the nut and oneside of the structure clamp, the head 3 bearing against the other sideof such structure, which may be the elements of a rail joint, as will bereadily understood.

It is well known that in the use of ordinary bolts the expansion andcontraction of the coupled parts under heat and cold is often such thatunder expansion the bolt is elongated, so that when the partssubsequently contract the fastening is loose,

ordinary spring washers being inefficient to-= take up the slack orlooseness. It will be evident, however, that by the use of my improvedwasher spring, havingsubstantially the same tensile strength as thebolt, the

spring itself will take up the pressure of ex,-. pansion and sustain 1t,thus IBIlEVlIIg' the i bolt from the pressure and preventing elongation.thereof,'while upon the contraction of the parts the springv Wlll.expand and maintain the elements tightly in engage ment with oneanother.

Owing to the features of construction set forth, a safety bolt and nutare provided which will be found of great efficiency for use infastening or coupling parts where safety of connection is a factor ofimportance, since the construction is such that the nut cannot workloose orthe fasteningbecome casually disconnected, while the springwasher permits of the necessary range of.

In a nut lock, the combination with abolt 1 having the threaded portionof its shank provided with a slot, of a nut having sets: of

* being provided with looking notches, and

said walls being also provided with beveled portions at their points ofintersection with the cooperating transverse grooves,- and aspringfastener consisting of a body portion adapted to be disposedwithinthe slot of the bolt and either of the pairs of transverse groovesin the nut, and provided 1 with spring arms adapted to occupydiametrically disposed longitudinal 'grooves of the nut, said armshaving in-struck projections to engage the locking notches and terminalportions bent outwardly at an oblique angle,-

the portions of the fastener being arranged to lie wholly within theperiphery'of'the nut,said beveled portions beingadapted for cooperationwith said oblique terminal por- In testimony whereof I aflix mysignature tions of the fastener to guide and spread the in presence oftwo Witnesses.

spring arms of the fastener into engage- CHARLES A. HYDE. ment With thelongitudinal grooves in the Witnesses:

tener. D. ELMER WOLF.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of latents,

Washington, D. Q.

operation of slidably applying said fas PALMER TENNANT,

